"From headquarters, I heard that you were on picket duty on Chapel mountain. A fearful night for such a service."
Hartmut was silent. No need to say that had he not been roused it would have been his last. Egon glanced uneasily at him; despite the uncertain light he saw how exhausted and spent the man before him was as he leaned against a pillar as if needing support.
"I came with a commission which you can accept or not as you see fit,"
he began again. "The thing is almost impossible, would be altogether so for any one but you. You have the courage, but whether, after all your exertions you have the strength, is another question."
"A quarter of an hour of warmth and some refreshment will bring back my strength. What is it?"
"A ride of life and death. To take some intelligence to R---- through the mountain pa.s.s just where the enemy lies."
"To the front!" cried Hartmut; "that"s where--"
"General Falkenried is with his brigade. He is lost if the news does not reach him. We put the means of saving his life in the hands of his son!"
Hartmut grasped his friend"s arm. He was all excitement and anxiety in an instant.
"I can save my father? I? What has happened? What am I to do?"
"Listen. The prisoner which you sent to us this evening has made some terrible revelations. The fort is to be blown up after the surrender, as soon as the French garrison are out and our men are in it. The general has sent two messengers--but they take round-about ways and will never reach there in time. Your father intends to seize the fort to-morrow. He must be warned in time, and there"s but one way. The news must go through the mountain pa.s.s which the enemy hold; that is the only chance to reach our friends. But that way--"
"I know it. Our regiment marched through it two weeks ago before the enemy had taken it," cried Hartmut.
"All the better! You must of course lay aside your uniform."
"I only need exchange my cloak and helmet. If I had stayed here I"d have been dead in a few hours; now if I ride fast enough I have one chance.
If I only had a good horse."
"That is ready for you, I brought my own Arabian, Sadi, with me. You know him well, have ridden him often. He"ll fly like a bird on a night like this, he"ll need no whip to spur him on."
The conversation was whispered in stormy haste, and the prince handed him the papers.
"Here is the general"s order which you present when you reach our sentinels, and here are the dispatches. Take a half hour to get some warmth and strength into your body, then you can start."
"Do you think I want rest or warmth?" cried Hartmut, the old Hartmut again. "When I break down now it will be from the enemy"s bullet. I thank you Egon for this hour, in which you have at last, at last, exonerated me from a fearful suspicion!"
"And in which I send you to your death," said the prince gently. "We must not hide the truth from ourselves--only a miracle can save you."
"A miracle?" Hartmut"s glance sought the altar which the flickering moonlight revealed. He had ceased to pray long years ago, and yet in this moment a hot, speechless prayer went up to Heaven for strength to accomplish this miracle. "If I can only save my father then I am content!"
In the next second he turned, and Egon, who had put new life into him and given him back his courage, said gently:
"And now let us say good-bye! G.o.d bless you, Hartmut!"
The two friends clung to one another in a last embrace. All that had come between them was lost sight of forever, and the old, warm love was mightier than ever in this last hour, for they both felt that it was a farewell for all time.
Scarcely fifteen minutes later a rider dashed out of the camp. The slender Arab"s hoofs hardly touched the ground over which it sped; in a wild gallop it went on over the snow-covered ground, through the ice-clad forest, over frozen streams, on, on, into the mountain pa.s.s!
CHAPTER XVI.
The following day brought clear, frosty weather. The intense cold had abated and the sun shone out warm and bright. Eugen Stahlberg and Lieutenant Walldorf, free from duty for the time being, were in Prince Adelsberg"s quarters. Walldorf had been thrown from his horse the previous evening, and his hand had been injured, and this prevented him from going out with his company, as Egon had done. The gentlemen were waiting for the return of their princely comrade, who must be back soon now, and as they waited, they teased and guyed old Peter Stadinger, who was on duty early at his master"s quarters.
The young officers had heard nothing of the news which had been learned over night at headquarters, they were as merry as could be, and indulged in much raillery over old Peter"s lectures to his master. But the old man said little in answer to their banter this morning; his master was long in returning, and Stadinger had reached the age when he borrowed trouble, and it rested heavily upon him. Finally Walldorf got out of all patience with him and said:
"I believe, Stadinger, you"d like to strap the prince on your back and take him off to Rodeck with you. The camp is no place for anxiety or alarm, remember that."
"Then the prince had to reconnoitre to-day," added Eugen. "He has to make a detour from Chapel mountain to the valley beneath and through the ravine, in order to see what the outlook is. We"ll probably have a pleasant exchange of civilities with the French gentlemen within the next few days, and we want to be ready for them at all points."
"But there"s plenty of chances for them to shoot now, isn"t there?"
asked the old man with such anxiety that the officers had to laugh aloud.
"Yes, there"s chances enough to shoot," Walldorf a.s.serted. "You seem to be afraid of a gun. You"re safe from any stray shots here!"
"I?" the old man straightened himself; he was deeply insulted. "I wish to G.o.d I could be in the midst of it all."
"Yes, you"d stay by the prince, and when you saw a bullet coming you"d give his coat a pull and say: "Be careful, your highness, here comes a bullet." That would be great fun."
"Herr Lieutenant," said the old man so earnestly that their merriment was silenced, "you should not talk so to an old hunter, who has climbed time and again to the mountain"s summit, and shot, and killed too, where he had scarcely room to plant his foot. It is only here that I am so anxious and discouraged--I would the day were well over."
"We were only in fun," said Eugen good naturedly. "Of course you"re not afraid of a shot, one only has to look at you to know that. But don"t come to us with your presentiments and misgivings; after men have stood under a shower of bullets they don"t heed croakings. When we"re all home again I am going to visit my sister at Ostwalden and we"ll be good neighbors, you and I. The prince is very fond of his hunting castle at Rodeck, is he not? But you can banish your gloomy thoughts, for here he comes."
There was a quick step without on the stair; the old man gave a relieved sigh, but when the door opened it was only Eugen"s man who appeared.
"Isn"t his highness coming?" asked Walldorf; but Stadinger gave the man no time to answer. He had glanced at his face, only a glance, then he started forward and seized his hand half-frantically.
"What is it? Where--where is my master?"
The man shook his head sadly and pointed to the window; the two officers hastened to it, but Stadinger lost no time in looking; he rushed out of the door and down the steps and across the little yard, and sank down with a piercing cry beside a litter which two soldiers were carrying, and upon which a tall, youthful form was stretched.
"Silence!" said the surgeon, who accompanied the sad little procession.
"Control yourself, the prince is badly wounded."
"I see that," said the old man, huskily. "But his wound is not mortal?
Tell me it"s not mortal!"
He glanced up at the physician with a look of such despair, that the latter had not the heart to tell him the truth. He turned to the two officers who had followed Stadinger, and answered their questions instead.
"A bullet in the breast," he said in a whisper. "The prince desired to be brought to his own quarters, and we have been as careful as we could, but the end is nearer than I thought."
"No hope then?" asked Walldorf.
"Not the slightest."
The men were already lifting their burden to carry him into the house, when the physician motioned them to put him down.
"Wait! The prince wants to speak to his old servant, I think. A few minutes here or there doesn"t matter now."